Thursday, November 27, 2014

Poori remains as a favorite food for most of the Indians.unfortunately it is not for me.even in my childhood days when my mom used to make pooris every weekend I would go and cajole her to make chappathis for me instead of poori and I used to have chappathis with potato masal.Few times my mom refused to make chappathis and I hardly eat 2 pooris to fill my tummy.

After marriage , I still had to make pooris as its my hubby's favorite breakfast and he likes to have pooris with masal and coconut chutney .In spite of hating pooris I always end up making them for my folks.From last year, my hubby was on a weight reduction mode and thank god he avoided pooris and these days I make it once or twice a month or if there is any special occasion .One such occasion came last week ,it was my brother s birthday and he too liked poori.The only difference was I wanted to add some healthy element to this calorie ladded dish and ended up making palak pooris.It came out well and everyone(except me!) relished it a lot.It goes well with potato masal or channa masala.

Preparation time:20 mins

Makes:16-18 medium size pooris

Ingredients :

Spinach/palak-1/2 bunch

Whole wheat flour-1.5 cups

Ajwain/omam-1 tsp

Green chillies-1 (optional)

Salt-to taste

Water -to knead

Oil-to deep fry

Procedure:

1.Wash the spinach leaves and sauté them on a pan in low heat.

2.Add the ajwain or Omam and green chillies to the spinach and grind them to a paste .

3.Add this paste to the wheat flour along with salt and knead them to a soft dough by adding water little by little.The poori dough need not too soft or kneaded for a long time like chappathi dough.Also make pooris immediately after you knead so that it doesn't absorb too much oil after frying.

4.Make small balls out of the dough and roll them out into pooris uniformly .You can also use any round shaped lid and press it on them to get perfect round pooris.

5.Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the pooris till they puff up and gets cooked .Make sure you fry all the pooris in medium flame through out .

6.Drain them on a kitchen tissue and serve hot with potato masal or channa masala.

Tips:

*You can add 2 tbsp of soaked rava or semolina(in a tbsp of water) to the dough before kneading so that the pooris remain puffed up even after taken off from oil and cooled down.

*Make sure the oil is at the correct temperature before frying the pooris.

Friday, November 21, 2014

I go bonkers with Mochai paruppu or dry field beans and love to add them in any dish which goes well with it. Even the fresh Mochai is very tasty and I use during its season.But the main fear is that it may cause gas or bloating. I do not deny it but at the same time how can one avoid such a tasty and nutritious legume which is high on protein and fibre?So like what I said in moonu paruppu sambar I pair it up with ingredients like garlic,ginger,horse gram or kollu,fennel,hing or jeera which will reduce gas or bloating.whenever I eat these legumes I feel full longer and satiated in small portion of carbs(like rice/chappathi).

The recipe here is an adaptation of menu rani chellam's channa dal kuzhambhu which I saw on a tv program long back.i tried channa kuzhambhu and it was too good and it became my husband's favorite.So I adapted the same recipe with Mochai instead of channa dal and the outcome was delicious and very flavorful. Mochai kuzhambhu goes well with hot plain rice, papad and any vegetable stir fry or poriyal.

Preparation time:20 mins

Serves:3

If you like this recipe please feel free to leave a comment below in the comment section.Your comments encourage me to do more.

Ingredients :

Mochai paruppu or dry field beans-50 gms

Chopped Small onions -10 no

Chopped / crushed Garlic pods -6 no

Chopped tomatoes-1 no

Turmeric powder-1 tsp

Chilli powder-1 tsp

Sambar powder-2 tbsp

Hing -1 tsp

Sesame oil-2 tbsp

Tamarind -1 small lemon size

Salt-to taste

Jaggery -1 tsp

To be grind to a paste:

Grated coconut -3 tbsp

Poppy seeds-1tbsp

Fried gram dhal/pottukadalai-2 tsp

Saunf/fennel seeds-1/2 tsp(optional)

To temper:

Mustard seeds -1/2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds-1/2 tsp

Red chillies-2

Curry leaves- few

Procedure:

1. Soak the dry field beans/Mochai paruppu for 6-7 hours and pressure cook them till they are soft.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Koftas are always special to me since my childhood.the moment our family steps in to a fine dining restaurant in Coimbatore, me and my brother used to order to paneer butter masala and malai kofta and there will be a spoon fight between us to win the bigger piece of kofta dipped in a rich creamy gravy.

After marriage I somehow feel I didnt have an opportunity to eat malai kofta often because my hubby is not a fan of this malai kofta and mostly we end ordering a paneer dish for my son and some veggie curry or dal for us.I have already made kofta curry at home even before marriage and once I made a kofta in green spinach gravy ( recipe from Mallika badrinath)for which I received complements from my family members and guests.After marriage I made it a couple of times and not too often because we deep fry the koftas which adds a lot of calories and a bit time consuming.

But recently after going through a lot of blogs which posted recipes on koftas that are not deep fried but roasted on nonstick paniyaram pan, I was motivated to make these healthy koftas at home again.I had some spinach in my fridge and so I went ahead making spinach koftas in a makhani gravy and it came out really nice and didn't make much of a difference compared to their deep fried counterparts.To make the makhani gravy rich I used blanched almonds,poppy seeds and 2 cashews.also addition of milk makes it creamier and less caloric compared to the addition of cream.

Preparation time :45 minutes

Serves:3

Ingredients :

For spinach koftas:(makes around 20 small koftas)

Spinach -1 small bunch

Chopped onion-1 big

Boiled potatoes-3 big size

Chopped fresh coriander -1 tbsp

Salt-to taste

Chilli powder-1 tsp

Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Hing-1/2 tsp

Garam masala-1 tsp

Jeera-1 tsp

Oil-few tsps to roast the koftas

For the makhani gravy:

Big onions-2 no

Tomatoes-2 no

Ginger-1 inch

Garlic -5 pods

Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Chilli powder-1 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder-1 tsp

Cumin powder-1 tsp

Garam Masala-1tsp

Kasuri methi-1 tsp

Milk-1 and 1/4 cups

Cashew-2 no(optional)

Poppy seeds-1 1/2 tsp

Blanched almonds-4 no

salt- to taste

Oil-2 tbsp

Coriander leaves-to garnish

sugar-1 tsp

To temper:

Bay leaves-2

Cinnamon -1 inch stick

Cloves-2

Cardamoms-2

Procedure:

Spinach Koftas:

1.Wash the spinach thoroughly in water and drain it.Heat a pan and saute the leaves in low flame till they are cooked.

2.Grind it to a coarse paste by using the pulse mode in the mixie.If there is any water in the spinach before grinding drain it and keep it separately so that we can add it later to the makhani gravy.If too much water is there while grinding then you wont be able to form koftas.

3.Heat the pan with a tsp of oil and add jeera.After it splutters, add the onion,turmeric powder,hing and salt necessary for the kofta and saute well.After it turns transparent add the chilli powder and garam masala.

4.Once it is sauteed well add this onion mixture to the boiled and mashed potatoes.Add the spinach puree and some chopped coriander leaves also and mix well to form a smooth dough.Take a small amount of this dough and roll it in to small koftas and keep it ready.

5.Heat the non-stick paniyaram pan with a tsp of oil in every mold in it.Place the kofta in each mold and roast them in low flame till it turns golden brown on both sides.Flip the koftas in between when one side is roasted.

6.Your koftas are ready.The spinach koftas can be had as an evening snack as well along with a tomato ketchup .

Makhani Gravy:

1.Grind ginger garlic to a paste.Grind onions and tomatoes to a paste separately.Soak alomonds,poppy seeds and cashew in hot water and grind them to a fine paste.

2.In a wok,add the oil and heat it along with a tsp of sugar and the tempering ingredients.

2.When the sugar carmelises add the ginger garlic paste and saute well.After it is sauteed well add the onion paste,turmeric powder and salt.Mix well and let it be on medium flame till the raw smell of onion goes off.

3.Add the tomato paste,chilli powder,coriander powder,cumin powder and saute well.Add little water if the gravy is too thick.Once the tomatoes and masala powders are cooked add the almond paste.

4.The gravy will start thickening and at this stage keep adding milk little by little in a low flame.If you keep the flame high or add the milk as a whole then it will curdle.Keep stirring.When all the milk is added to the gravy add the garam masala and kasuri methi to the makhani gravy and mix well.

5.The makhani gravy is ready.Switch off the flame and garnish with fresh coriander leaves and grated paneer(optional).Add the spinach koftas to this gravy just before serving.If you add it too early then the koftas might become soggy.Serve the spinach kofta in Makhani gravy with hot phulkhas or chappathi or roti or a mild pulao.

Tips:

* You can deep fry the koftas if you wish.

*You can also add butter along with oil for the makhani gravy to make it rich.

*Paneer makhani is same as above makhani gravy but instead of koftas we add fried/fresh paneer cubes to the gravy.

*Make sure you drain out all the water from sauteed spinach before grinding it to a puree.Otherwise you wont be able to shape koftas.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Moonu paruppu Sambar or Three dal Sambar is new to me also but came to know through my aunt Mangalam who is a great cook.She is very good in making authentic tambrahm dishes and pickles.Whenever she visits our home I get to taste a new dish which is authentic to our cuisine but forgotten by many of us these days.I once heard my cousin Lata(my aunts daughter) asking her mom to make moonu paruppu Sambar.I was quite puzzled to hear the name but thought it must be one of my aunt's speciality but never got the opportunity to taste this sambar made by my aunt.

After I started blogging I wanted to post some of the most authentic and forgotten recipes as well.I remembered the name of this dish and wanted the recipe and my mom helped in getting the recipe from my aunt Mangalam .I was amazed by the simplicity of the recipe and wondered how it will taste, but to my surprise the outcome was so delicious and made me think how simple ingredients could lead to such wonderful dish with awesome taste.

Last weekend was a good meal for our family with this moonu paruppu sambar paired with cabbage and carrot stir fry and rice.My son too enjoyed the sambar.

The addition of kollu or horse gram adds health benefits to this dish and also reduces gas formation which can happen due to the addition of mochai paruppu or dry field beans in this dish.How those days our ancestors paired ingredients!(In an authentic tambrahm cuisine garlic was never used so they used hing or ginger and in this case used horse gram ).Horse gram reduces cholesterol ,gas and aids in reducing our weight as well.So lets get to the recipe.

Monnu Paruppu Sambar

If you like this recipe please be free to leave a comment below in the comments section.Your comments motivate me to do more.

1.Dry roast horse gram for 2-3 minutes till nice atone arises and ground them to a coarse mixture without water.

2.Soak the dry field beans or mochai paruppu overnight.

3.Add the toor dal to the soaked mochai paruppu and pressure cook mochai paruppu and toor dal together in a vessel and the horse gram on a different vessel with required amount of water.

4.Once all the dals are cooked well mix them together till they become mushy and come together.

5.In a wok add the oil and temper it with the tempering ingredients and once mustard splutters add the tamarind extract ,salt,turmeric powder,sambar powder and hing.Let it boil till the raw smell of tamarind and sambar powder goes away

.

6.After about 8 mins add the three cooked dals and let it boil for few more mins.Add water if the sambar is too thick.

7.Then switch off the flame add the jaggery and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.Serve hot with poriyal/stir fry and rice.

Moonu Paruppu Sambar

Tips:

*The dry field beans/mochai need not get smashed ,it needs to be soft after pressure cooked.

*The authentic dish doesn't require any onion but you can add small onions while tempering for enhanced taste.

*If the horse gram didn't get mushy but is cooked then you can pulse it in a mixer for few seconds and then add it to the other dals.